Am I just getting old and grumpy

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 10:59
Am I just getting old and grumpy - dieseldogg

Coming back from Coleraine yesterday at lunchtime.

Tootling at about 50/55 on an empty road up past Ballyrashane.

Transit van pulls out in front of me, i.e. turning left onto the main road, he causes me to brake/ slow down, even though the road behind me was empty, then about a 1/4 mile later turns in left again, bringing me almost to a standstill.

No signs of any cognetive function, just drive mindlessly.

Coming down the Lisconnan Rd, met a small dark coloured van completely on the wrong side of the road (i.e he was) he "dwamled" /swerved back in just in time.

OK. we can all be distracted....on the phone?

Furthur down the Lisconnan there was a car & trailer parked on the other side of the road, an oncoming Jeep accelerated and swerved arounf the obstruction, once again bring me almost to a stop.

Plain ignorant

Then finally whilst still on the Lisconnan I met a tractor & trailer which virtually filled the road width available, he forced me up the ditch despite having just passed (I mean 10m back) a very wide lane end where he could & should have pulled in.

He refused to stop and indeed barely slowed

Very very ignorant/thick behaviour

Why the blinking heck will motorists meeting an potential obstruction not SLOW DOWN or even STOP.

I do.

Ps

I am fully aware that the common denominator in all these incidents was myself.

Edited by dieseldogg on 27/09/2011 at 11:03

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 11:05
Am I just getting old and grumpy - madf

"Am I just getting old and grumpy?"

Yes.

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 11:16
Am I just getting old and grumpy - richardcroft

No, you're not grumpy. There are more selfish and inconsiderate people on the roads today or it might just be the vehicle you were driving. Do you mind me asking what it was?

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 12:12
Am I just getting old and grumpy - dieseldogg

An Octavia

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 12:36
Am I just getting old and grumpy - Ethan Edwards

No your not. The number of feckwits who drive seems to be increasing exponentially.

Poor usage of fog lights, inability to comprehend what indicators are let alone the usage of them. No lane discipline. These are the subtle hints that your in the presence of a feckwit.

Mind you I may have grumpy tendancies myself.

How you are treated based on the vehicle your driving.

Yes. When I'm in my small N Note people cut me up more but conversely let me out of side roads etc.

When I am in my wifes X-Trail 4x4 nobody lets you out but fewer people cut you up when they see the 3 inch s/steel bull bars.

There is a definite difference.

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 18:16
Am I just getting old and grumpy - Bobbin Threadbare

Yes. When I'm in my small N Note people cut me up more but conversely let me out of side roads etc.

When I am in my wifes X-Trail 4x4 nobody lets you out but fewer people cut you up when they see the 3 inch s/steel bull bars.

There is a definite difference.

I'll go with that. When I had my Focus it seemed invisible, and if I drive my mum's Aygo then everybody tries to boss you on the roads. In my own Mazda 6, I've got no problems, unless it's some numpty in a BMW who loves himself (this morning, cutting in on a packed roundabout, bumping over a pavement and weaving onto the motorway).

I even saw someone driving a Cashcow recklessly today and they usually creep along. So no, it not's old age (I'm 28) and you're entitled to be grumpy! Oh an a guy in a very snazzy convertible Maserati of some type who treated me to a series of foul hand gestures, while I was sitting waiting at traffic lights.

I wonder if the increased rudeness has to do with obsession about fuel economy and low speeds; maybe people are frustrated at having a car with no zip that they feel they must creep away from lights etc. Ergo, they're going crackers and take it out on others.

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 12:36
Am I just getting old and grumpy - dervdave

No its just that there are loads of a***holes behind the wheel that don`t have the brains to pilot a skateboard on a footpath never mind drive a vehicle on a public road !

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 13:06
Am I just getting old and grumpy - Trilogy

When I'm in my Octavia people seem to have little respect for it yet when they see my E300 Merc......................it's a different story, although not always.

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 13:20
Am I just getting old and grumpy - dieseldogg

When I was much younger a very scruffy Lada seemed to act like a magic wand, one ALWAYS got sufficient road room.

Senior Managment also assures me that the somewhat dirty Steyr Puch Van generally has the same effect.

Point taken

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 14:08
Am I just getting old and grumpy - dervdave

When I'm in my Octavia people seem to have little respect for it yet when they see my E300 Merc......................it's a different story, although not always.

Not sure about that but when I see an Octavia I think TAXI because they`re very popular as cabs in the N.E.

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 14:26
Am I just getting old and grumpy - jamie745

Even the most brainless oik who'd normally run across the road three feet in front of your car seems to think twice when they see a large black slab-fronted Jaguar coming towards them.

But there are some total plebs out there, and with estimates saying 1.4million are uninsured i think we all come across at least one without insurance/licence every day which would partly explain it.

Idiot of the week (or last week rather) for me has to be when i was on my home from work, same route i always take and theres a junction with traffic lights etc and i always go left, now its impossible to see whats round there due to the 8 foot brick wall someones had put up around their house so you cant see anything until you're round it. Lights green so i swing round and encounter a cyclist coming towards me on the wrong side of the road! Scared the life out of me, slammed on the brakes. You know the type, about sixth form age, hoodie on, he's got an equally moronic girl on his back who's he's obviously trying to impress.

How fun.

Edited by Avant on 27/09/2011 at 23:59

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 15:35
Am I just getting old and grumpy - gordonbennet
You know the type, about sixth form age, hoodie on, he's got an equally moronic girl on his back who's he's obviously trying to impress, gives me the w***er sign and says, and i quote 'f***in knob!'

Oh lovely i can't wait till they breed and we can keep them in McDonalds and iPhones.

I'm a grumpy too, hellish minority out there that haven't the foggiest idea what they are doing on the road.

High time instructors started teaching them to drive and not to simply pass a test, what am i saying most of them are more untrainable and have less sense than my idiot dog.

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 17:02
Am I just getting old and grumpy - madf

They probably have no tax insurance or licence.

I treat all other drivers with courtesy (you get it back) and assume they are all mindless idiots. That way you get pleasant surpriises.

I treat all motorcyclists as mindless idiots with a deathwish whom I wish to pass me and get miles away asap.

Anything for a quiet live. Life is too short to worry about the inane antics of others...

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 18:34
Am I just getting old and grumpy - corax

Anything for a quiet live. Life is too short to worry about the inane antics of others...

Unfortunately you will always have to share the same roads with them until you give up your license. And then you'll be too old to care :)

Edited by corax on 27/09/2011 at 18:36

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Tue 27 Sep 2011 21:00
Am I just getting old and grumpy - Dutchie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILVHaIb5WO8 Program look on the road .Watch the driving and antics on Hollands roads.Sorry commentary in Dutch.

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